A novel production data analysis method for multi-fractured horizontal wells with infill well-caused fracture interference

Tightening the well spacing for unconventional tight reservoirs is an efficient technique to enhance oil and gas recoveries.Infill well-caused fracture connection between wells is widely reported in the field with small well spacing.This will make it difficult to make formation evaluation and fracture characterization between wells compared to single well cases.In this paper,a novel production data analysis(PDA)method is proposed for fracture characterization with the consideration of interwell fracture connections after the hydraulic fracturing of the infill.The PDA method is based on a semianalytical model,in which the small-scaled fractures are treated with the concept of stimulated reservoir volume(SRV).Thus,the fracture connections between wells are classified into three types,including SRV,fractures,and both SRV and fractures.The physical model is discretized into several linear flow regions,so the mathematical model can be solved semianalytically.An integrated workflow is proposed to analyze the production data for the wellpad,and three steps are mainly included in the workflow,including PDA for the parent well before infill,PDA for the parent well after infill,and PDA for the infill well.In each step,the production performance in the early linear and bilinear flow regimes are analyzed with approximate solutions in the square and fourth root-of-time plots.Because only the relationship between unknown model parameters can be obtained with the approximate solutions,history matching to the production data in log-log plots is further used to determine each unknown parameter.The PDA method is benchmarked with a synthetic case generated by the numerical simulator tNavigator and a field case from Southwestern China.The results show that both good matches and precise parameters can be obtained with the proposed PDA method.The connected fracture number will not be sensitive in PDA when the wells are connected with high-conductive dSRV.The innovation of this paper is that a practical method is provided for PDA analysis of well groups with fracture connection,and it will be a good technique for fracture characterization and well-interference analysis for tight formations.

Numerical investigation on the effect of depletion-induced stress reorientation on infill well hydraulic fracture propagation

Depletion-induced stress change causes the redistribution of stress field in reservoirs,which can lead to the reorientation of principal stresses.Stress reorientation has a direct impact on fracture propagation of infill wells.To understand the effect of stress reorientation on the propagation of infill well’s fractures,an integrated simulation workflow that combines the reservoir flow calculation and the infill well hydraulic fracturing modeling is adopted.The reservoir simulation is computed to examine the relationship between the extent of stress reversal region and reservoir properties.Then,the hydraulic fracturing model considering the altered stress field for production is built to characterize the stress evolution of secondary fracturing.Numerical simulations show that stress reorientation may occur due to the decreasing of the horizontal stresses in an elliptical region around the parent well.Also,the initial stress difference is the driving factor for stress reorientation.However,the bottom hole pressure,permeability and other properties connected with fluid flow control timing of the stress reorientation.The decrease of the horizontal stresses around the parent well lead to asymmetrical propagation of a hydraulic fracture of the infill well.The study provides insights on understanding the influence of stress reorientation to the infill well fracturing treatment and interference between parent and infill wells.

Evaluation of infill well pattern based on the dynamic change of reservoirs during coalbed methane development

With the deepening of coalbed methane(CBM)exploration and development,the problem of low gas production has gradually become one of the main factors restricting the development of the CBM industry in China.Reasonable well pattern deployment can improve the productivity of CBM wells and reduce the cost of production,while the reservoir changes of CBM wells play a important role for well pattern infilling.In this study,the dynamic characteristics of the average reservoir pressure(ARP),permeability,and drainage radius during the development process of CBM wells are systematically analyzed,and predicted the production changes of well groups before and after infilling wells in combination with the characteristics of reservoir changes.The results show that the high gas production wells have a larger pressure drop,long drainage radius,and a large increase in permeability.On the contrary,low gas production wells are characterized by small drainage radius,damaged permeability and difficult to recover.The productivity of infilled horizontal wells is predicted for two well groups with different productivity and reservoir dynamic characteristics.After infilling wells,the production of current wells has increased at different degrees.It is predicted that the average gas production of low gas production well group H1 and middle gas production well group H2 will increase 1.64 and 2.09 times respectively after 3000 days production simulation.In addition,the pressure interference between wells has increased significantly,and the overall gas production of the well group has greatly increased.Infill wells can achieve better development results in areas with superior CBM resources,recoverable reservoir permeability,and small drainage radius during the early production process.The research results provide a reference for the later infill adjustment of CBM well patterns in the study area.

Meter-Scale Thin-Walled Structure with Lattice Infill for Fuel Tank Supporting Component of Satellite:Multiscale Design and Experimental Verification

Lightweight thin-walled structures with lattice infill are widely desired in satellite for their high stiffness-to-weight ratio and superior buckling strength resulting fromthe sandwich effect.Such structures can be fabricated bymetallic additive manufacturing technique,such as selective laser melting(SLM).However,the maximum dimensions of actual structures are usually in a sub-meter scale,which results in restrictions on their appliance in aerospace and other fields.In this work,a meter-scale thin-walled structure with lattice infill is designed for the fuel tank supporting component of the satellite by integrating a self-supporting lattice into the thickness optimization of the thin-wall.The designed structure is fabricated by SLM of AlSi10Mg and cold metal transfer welding technique.Quasi-static mechanical tests and vibration tests are both conducted to verify the mechanical strength of the designed large-scale lattice thin-walled structure.The experimental results indicate that themeter-scale thin-walled structure with lattice infill could meet the dimension and lightweight requirements of most spacecrafts.

Airfoil Shape Optimisation Using a Multi-Fidelity Surrogate-Assisted Metaheuristic with a New Multi-Objective Infill Sampling Technique

This work presents multi-fidelity multi-objective infill-sampling surrogate-assisted optimization for airfoil shape optimization.The optimization problem is posed to maximize the lift and drag coefficient ratio subject to airfoil geometry constraints.Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD)and XFoil tools are used for high and low-fidelity simulations of the airfoil to find the real objective function value.A special multi-objective sub-optimization problem is proposed for multiple points infill sampling exploration to improve the surrogate model constructed.To validate and further assess the proposed methods,a conventional surrogate-assisted optimization method and an infill sampling surrogate-assisted optimization criterion are applied with multi-fidelity simulation,while their numerical performance is investigated.The results obtained show that the proposed technique is the best performer for the demonstrated airfoil shape optimization.According to this study,applying multi-fidelity with multi-objective infill sampling criteria for surrogate-assisted optimization is a powerful design tool.

Production characteristics and displacement mechanisms of infilling polymer-surfactant-preformed particle gel flooding in post-polymer flooding reservoirs:A review of practice in Ng3 block of Gudao Oilfield

The pilot test of infilling polymer-surfactant-preformed particle gel(PPG)flooding has been successfully implemented after polymer flooding in Ng3 block of Gudao Oilfield in China.However,the production characteristics and displacement mechanisms are still unclear,which restricts its further popularization and application.Aiming at this problem,this paper firstly analyzes the production performance of the pilot test and proposed four response types according to the change of water cut curves,including W-type,U-type,V-type response,and no response.Furthermore,the underlying reasons of these four types are analyzed from the aspects of seepage resistance and sweep efficiency.The overall sweep efficiency of gradual-rising W-type,gradual-decreasing W-type,and early V-type response increases from 0.81 to 0.93,0.55 to 0.89,and 0.94 to 1,respectively.And the sum of seepage resistance along the connection line between production well and injection well for U-type and delayed V-type response increases from 0.0994 to 0.2425,and 0.0677 to 0.1654,respectively.Then,the remaining oil distribution after polymer flooding is summarized into four types on the basis of production and geological characteristics,namely disconnected remaining oil,streamline unswept remaining oil,rhythm remaining oil,and interlayer-controlled remaining oil.Furthermore,the main displacement mechanisms for each type are clarified based on the dimensionless seepage resistance and water absorption profile.Generally,improving connectivity by well pattern infilling is the most important for producing disconnected remaining oil.The synergistic effect of well pattern infilling and polymer-surfactant-PPG flooding increases the dimensionless seepage resistance of water channeling regions and forces the subsequent injected water to turn to regions with streamline unswept remaining oil.The improvement of the water absorption profile by polymer-surfactant-PPG flooding and separated layer water injection contributes to displacing rhythm remaining oil and interlayer-controlled remaining oil.Finally,the paper analyzes the relationships between the remaining oil distribution after polymer flooding and production characteristics of infilling polymer-surfactant-PPG flooding.The study helps to deepen the understanding of infilling polymer-surfactant-PPG flooding and has reference significance for more commercial implementations in the future.

Effects of pre-existing cracks and infillings on strength of natural rocks--Cases of sandstone, argillite and basalt

This study aims to examine the influence of pre-existing discontinuities on the strengths of four natural rocks of different origins.A series of unconfined compression tests was performed on specimens of two types of sandstones,argillite and basalt that contain open and filled cracks.It was found that the presence of cracks tends to decrease the overall strength for all studied rocks;however,the magnitude of strength reduction is related to the property of rock.The larger strength decrease was observed for the relatively harder argillite and basalt,compared to the softer sandstone.It was also found that the infill material could increase the strength of rock specimens,while the obtained strength depended on the characteristics of the fill material.

Seismic performance evaluation of an infilled rocking wall frame structure through quasi-static cyclic testing

Earthquake investigations have illustrated that even code-compliant reinforced concrete frames may suffer from soft-story mechanism.This damage mode results in poor ductility and limited energy dissipation.Continuous components offer alternatives that may avoid such failures.A novel infilled rocking wall frame system is proposed that takes advantage of continuous component and rocking characteristics.Previous studies have investigated similar systems that combine a reinforced concrete frame and a wall with rocking behavior used.However,a large-scale experimental study of a reinforced concrete frame combined with a rocking wall has not been reported.In this study,a seismic performance evaluation of the newly proposed infilled rocking wall frame structure was conducted through quasi-static cyclic testing.Critical joints were designed and verified.Numerical models were established and calibrated to estimate frame shear forces.The results evaluation demonstrate that an infilled rocking wall frame can effectively avoid soft-story mechanisms.Capacity and initial stiffness are greatly improved and self-centering behavior is achieved with the help of the infilled rocking wall.Drift distribution becomes more uniform with height.Concrete cracks and damage occurs in desired areas.The infilled rocking wall frame offers a promising approach to achieving seismic resilience.

An effective simplified model of composite compression struts for partially-restrained steel frame with reinforced concrete infill walls

To resolve the issue regarding inaccurate prediction of the hysteretic behavior by micro-based numerical analysis for partially-restrained（PR）steel frames with solid reinforced concrete（RC）infill walls,an innovative simplified model of composite compression struts is proposed on the basis of experimental observation on the cracking distribution,load transferring mechanism,and failure modes of RC infill walls filled in PR steel frame.The proposed composite compression struts model for the solid RC infill walls is composed ofαinclined struts and main diagonal struts.Theαinclined struts are used to reflect the part of the lateral force resisted by shear connectors along the frame-wall interface,while the main diagonal struts are introduced to take into account the rest of the lateral force transferred along the diagonal direction due to the complicated interaction between the steel frame and RC infill walls.This study derives appropriate formulas for the effective widths of theαinclined strut and main diagonal strut,respectively.An example of PR steel frame with RC infill walls simulating simulated by the composite inclined compression struts model is illustrated.The maximum lateral strength and the hysteresis curve shape obtained from the proposed composite strut model are in good agreement with those from the test results,and the backbone curve of a PR steel frame with RC infill walls can be predicted precisely when the inter-story drift is within 1%.This simplified model can also predict the structural stiffness and the equivalent viscous damping ratio well when the inter-story drift ratio exceeds 0.5%.

A Predictive Model of Enhanced Oil Recovery by Infill Drilling and Its Application

Infill drilling is now recognized as a viable improved recovery process. However, the reliable prediction of incremental recovery by infill drilling cannot be readily and accurately determined by present techniques. This paper proposes a hybrid predictive model of stream tube simulation and numerical simulation by using the contemporary theory of fluid flow in porous media. The model calculates the geometries of stream tubes, remaining oil distribution and water cut at different development stages in the near future, and uses a three-dimensional simulation to track fluid movement in each stream tube slice. This will help reservoir engineers to determine the feasibility of infill drilling. This predictive model is used to forecast the degree of control of well pattern, the ultimate incremental recovery of infill wells within an inverted 5-spot case in an oilfield and the economic benefit is also analyzed.

Nonlinear pushover analysis of infilled concrete frames

Six reinforced concrete frames with or without masonry infills were constructed and tested under horizontal cyclic loads. All six frames had identical details in which the transverse reinforcement in columns was provided by rectangular hoops that did not meet current ACI specifications for ductile frames. For comparison purposes, the columns in three of these frames were jacketed by carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer （CFRP） sheets to avoid possible shear failure. A nonlinear pushover analysis, in which the force-deformation relationships of individual elements were developed based on ACI 318, FEMA 356, and Chen＇s model, was carried out for these frames and compared to test results. Both the failure mechanisms and impact of infills on the behaviors of these frames were examined in the study. Conclusions from the present analysis provide structural engineers with valuable information for evaluation and design of infilled concrete frame building structures.

Strength and stiffness reduction factors for infilled frames with openings

Framed structures are usually infilled with masonry walls. They may cause a significant increase in both stiffness and strength, reducing the deformation demand and increasing the energy dissipation capacity of the system. On the other hand, irregular arrangements of the masonry panels may lead to the concentration of damage in some regions, with negative effects; for example soft story mechanisms and shear failures in short columns. Therefore, the presence ofinfill walls should not be neglected, especially in regions of moderate and high seismicity. To this aim, simple models are available for solid infills walls, such as the diagonal no-tension strut model, while infilled frames with openings have not been adequately investigated. In this study, the effect of openings on the strength and stiffness of infilled frames is investigated by means of about 150 experimental and numerical tests. The main parameters involved are identified and a simple model to take into account the openings in the infills is developed and compared with other models proposed by different researchers. The model, which is based on the use of strength and stiffness reduction factors, takes into account the opening dimensions and presence of reinforcing elements around the opening. An example of an application of the proposed reduction factors is also presented.

An approach to measure infill matric suction of irregular infilled rock joints under constant normal stiffness shearing

Rock joints infilled with sediments can strongly influence the strength of rock mass. As infilled joints often exist under unsaturated condition, this study investigated the influence of matric suction of infill on the overall joint shear strength. A novel technique that allows direct measurement of matric suction of infill using high capacity tensiometers(HCTs) during direct shear of infilled joints under constant normal stiffness(CNS) is described. The CNS apparatus was modified to accommodate the HCT and the procedure is explained in detail. Joint specimens were simulated by gypsum plaster using threedimensional(3D) printed surface moulds, and filled with kaolin and sand mixture prepared at different water contents. Shear behaviours of both planar infilled joints and rough joints having joint roughness coefficients(JRCs) of 8-10 and 18-20 with the ratios of infill thickness to asperity height(t/a)equal to 0.5 were investigated. Matric suction shows predominantly unimodal behaviour during shearing of both planar and rough joints, which is closely associated with the variation of unloading rate and volumetric changes of the infill material. As expected, two-peak behaviour was observed for the rough joints and both peaks increased with the increase of infill matric suction. The results suggest that the contribution of matric suction of infill on the joint peak normalised shear stress is relatively independent of the joint roughness.

A Theoretical Study the Effect of Openings in Infill Wall Panels on the Behavior of Structures

Two dimensional,reinforced concrete building frames built on raft foundation and having infill wall panels with openings in them are analysed using the direct stiffness method.Beams and columns are modelled by beam column elements.Wall panels are modelled by plane stress finite elements.The raft foundation is modelled by uniaxial finite elements.The soil is modelled as half space model.Openings in wall panels are introduced by using fictitious beams between real floor beams. A computer program is written to carry out the static analysis and do the necessary comparison to show the effect of openings on the structural behavior.

Effect of URM infills on seismic vulnerability of Indian code designed RC frame buildings

Unreinforced Masonry (URM) is the most common partitioning material in framed buildings in India and many other countries. Although it is well-known that under lateral loading the behavior and modes of failure of the frame buildings change significantly due to infill-frame interaction, the general design practice is to treat infills as nonstructural elements and their stiffness, strength and interaction with the frame is often ignored, primarily because of difficulties in simulation and lack of modeling guidelines in design codes. The Indian Standard, like many other national codes, does not provide explicit insight into the anticipated performance and associated vulnerability of infilled frames. This paper presents an analytical study on the seismic performance and fragility analysis of Indian code-designed RC frame buildings with and without URM infills. Infills are modeled as diagonal struts as per ASCE 41 guidelines and various modes of failure are considered. HAZUS methodology along with nonlinear static analysis is used to compare the seismic vulnerability of bare and infilled frames. The comparative study suggests that URM infills result in a significant increase in the seismic vulnerability of RC frames and their effect needs to be properly incorporated in design codes.

Effects of timber infill walls on the seismic behavior of traditional Chinese timber frames

This study investigates the enhanced effect of timber infill walls on the seismic behavior of traditional Chinese timber frames.Two 1/2 scaled traditional Chinese timber infill walls(TIWs),two 1/2 scaled timber frames with timber infill walls(TFTIWs)and one 1/2 scaled timber frame(TF)were fabricated and tested under low-cyclic reversed loading.The failure modes,strength,stiffness,and energy consumption capacity of the TIWs and the TFTIWs were obtained,and the effects of the TIWs on the seismic performance of the TFTIWs were investigated.The results showed that the TIWs can increase the stiffness and ultimate bearing capacity of the TF,up to 60%and 80%,respectively.The strength degradation coefficient of the TFTIWs was slightly higher than that of the TF when the inter-story drift ratio exceeded 0.02 rad,and the TIWs helped to mitigate the strength degradation of the TFTIWs.It was also found that the TFTIWs had a higher cumulative energy dissipation when compared with the TF(up to a 60%increase),indicating the TIWs had reasonably good energy dissipation capacity.When the TIWs generated a solid contribution to the carrying capacity and energy dissipation of the TF,the lateral drift thresholds were 1/100 and 1/43 of the column height,respectively.Furthermore,the TIWs and TFTIWs presented a good ductility,and the TIW could effectively reduce the pull-out amount of the tenon from the mortise of the TF;however,the TIWs had little influence on the stiffness degradation level or improvement of the ductility of the TF.

Study on the effect of the infill walls on the seismic performance of a reinforced concrete frame

Motivated by the seismic damage observed to reinforced concrete （RC） frame structures during the Wenchuan earthquake, the effect of infill walls on the seismic performance of a RC frame is studied in this paper. Infill walls, especially those made of masonry, offer some amount of stiffness and strength. Therefore, the effect of infill walls should be considered during the design of RC frames. In this study, an analysis of the recorded ground motion in the Wenehuan earthquake is performed. Then, a numerical model is developed to simulate the infill walls. Finally, nonlinear dynamic analysis is carried out on a RC frame with and without infill walls, respectively, by using CANNY software. Through a comparative analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn. The failure mode of the frame with infill walls is in accordance with the seismic damage failure pattern, which is strong beam and weak column mode. This indicates that the infill walls change the failure pattern of the frame, and it is necessary to consider them in the seismic design of the RC frame. The numerical model presented in this paper can effectively simulate the effect of infill walls on the RC frame.

Shaking test research on connection modes between block infill wall and frame beam

In order to achieve an optimal anti-seismic behavior,or rather stability,the out-of-plane stability of infill wall in frame has been researched with the shaking test of four sets of two-layer infill wall,in which four different connection modes of filled with inclined bricks on the top,disconnection,flexibility and semi-flexibility were adapted.The acceleration and displacement response of the specimens were analyzed under the seismic load.Also,some feasible connection modes were gained by comparing the response of infill walls.Finally,the calculation of earthquake of infill wall was held.The results showed that seismic responses of the infill walls whose connect with frame in form of flexibility and semi-flexibility modes are weaker than others obviously,and their integrality is better.Thus the conclusion could be drawn that out-of-plane stability of the specimens with connection modes of flexibility and semi-flexibility are better than those with the connection modes of filled with inclined bricks on the top and disconnection.The research results can provide evidence for establishing specifications and directing the construction and therefore help reduce the casualties and property loss caused by earthquake disasters.

Comparative Study on Diagonal Strut Model of Infill Wall

The equivalent diagonal strut models of infill wall mainly include the single strut model and multi-strut model.Firstly,several equivalent strut models and their characteristics are introduced in this paper.Then,model analysis and pushover analysis are carried out on infilled frame models with the aid of the software SAP2000.Two typical single strut models and a typical three-strut model are used to simulate the panel of the frames respectively.It is indicated that the period reduction factor of the frame with a three-strut model is close to the value recommended by the current code.The infill wall has great influence on the overall stiffness,bearing capacity and weak position of the structure.The stiffness and the bearing capacity of the infilled frame increase with the increase of the number of the infill walls.The unfilled story is the weak position of the infilled frame,and when the unfilled story at the bottom of the infilled frame,the seismic response of the upper infill layer decreases with the increasing of the number of unfilled story.

Experimental Investigation to Establish the Possibility of Realistic Simulation of the Behavior of Single Storey—One Bay Infilled R.C.Frames in Scale 1:9,Subjected to Horizontal Cyclic Loading

In order to study the dynamic behaviour of construction,specifically seismic response of structures,as many researchers did,we have resorted to modelling methods,based on the scaled internal forces.Therefore,this research includes results of an experimental investigation aimed to establish the possibility of realistic simulations of the cyclic response of small-scale models of one bay,one-storey reinforced concrete frames with masonry infills as a preliminary step for simulating the dynamic response of such structural.So,the specimens constructed were 1:9 scale R/C frames.These 1:9 scale infill frames were constructed with prototype materials and were tested in an extensive experimental sequence representing specimens of a scale near the prototype(1:3).The tested laboratory models include 1:3 scale infilled R/C frames that were built from original material such as steel,concrete and masonry infills(hollow masonry units and mortar).With the same scale,geometry and construction materials used for the construction of a 1:3 scale 5-story three dimensional building.This program consisted of 16 models,5 bare and 11 masonry infilled.all models refer to single-storey one-bay 1:9 scale as for the original structure and a one third of the scale(1:3)as for the prototype(1:3).The reinforced concrete specimens were designed in such a way as to prevent shear failure of the columns.Finally,the present paper was carried out in the Laboratory of Strength of Materials and Structures in the Department of Civil Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.